Costco - Making the Right Choice?

We decided to take a serious look at shopping for food at Costco. Considering our penchant for seasonal, close-to-the-soil food, we found that Costco (like most chain grocery stores) is trying to bring a higher-quality to the “big box” persona by offering some organics, but there are still no local options.

Founded with a single store in Seattle in 1983, Costco is now the largest membership warehouse club in the world with over 500 locations and 45 million members. For consideration: if you can’t beat them, try joining, but support the effort to bring quality to quantity and be a discerning shopper.

Here is what we found:

“RAW” INGREDIENTS
Cheeses, including:
--Fattorie Garofalo Bufala Mozzarella (4 balls, $10)
--French feta cheese
--Tillamook Aged Sharp Cheddar (aged 2 years)
--Irish Dubliner

Fruits & Veggies (Not a lot of organics and nothing local, but what you can find are some seasonal offerings. Here’s a list of better-choice non-organics):
--Italian prune plums
--Fresh figs
--Black raspberries
--Grapefruit in the sack
--Pineapples
--Mangoes
--Blueberries
--Haricots verts
--Avocados

Meat: (No grass-fed items and the large quantities make these a better choice for when you entertain, not everyday)
--Ribeye steaks
--Flank steaks
--NY strip steak
--Frenched rack of lamb
--Lamb loin chops (oven-to-table in 30 minutes)
--Sausages (great for grilling)
--Canadian bacon

MORE-FOR-YOUR-MONEY WEEKDAY STAPLES
--Organic & Fair Trade Sugar (10-lb. bag, it’s huge)
--Pesto (keeps well in the fridge)
--Nuts: pignoli, pistachios, almonds, pecans, walnuts (will keep for months in the freezer)
--Jars of kalamata olives and hearts of palm
--Goya Black Beans, 6-pack
--Mediterranean Sea Salt Grinder
--Pacific Natural Foods Free-Range Chicken broth (sold in 6 individual tetra paks)
--Organic Creamy Peanut Butter (two-pack)
--Panné Provincio Artisan Breads - multigrain and ciabbata sandwich rolls (freeze well)
--Eggs (yes organic, but we still prefer farm market)
--Organic milk
--Pre-cooked bacon (for the lazy, quick breakfast or mess-free BLT)

FROZEN
--Organic Sweet Corn
--French Green Beans
--Sea Scallops (U.S.A wild-caught)
--Panda Potstickers (frozen)

PARTY ITEMS (When you just can’t do it all)
--Hummus (serve with Stacy’s Pita Chips)
--Guacamole
--Food Should Taste Good’s Multigrain Tortilla Chips
--Costco party sheet cakes
--Phillips Jumbo lump crab meat (for crab cakes)